Throw out the conventional wisdom (and Chris Matthews' amorous obsession with him) ... Giuliani has not won the Republican nomination for president. The race is still up in the air. Two pieces of evidence:
Word to Matthews (and my morning show co-host, whom I suspect is a closet Giuliani fan, or maybe not so closet...) nationwide polls, particularly a year before the primaries, are pretty meaningless. It's the state by state polls that matter, if any polls at this stage matter at all. And guess who's leading those, in three of the first, key primary states?
Contrary to Matthews' patently false statement on Hardball tonight, Giuliani does NOT continue to "go up in the polls." His numbers are trending steadily down. Especially when Fred Thompson is thrown into the mix.
Thompson, who's not yet in but whom I suspect will get in, has become the official candidate of Ronald Reagan's friends. That's not a good look for Rudy. As Thompson said of Rudy: "His popularity may be a mile wide and an inch deep. I'm sure that lead will shrink." Oh, and Thompson, unlike Giuliani, really could put California in play. Of course, Thompson has his issues, too, and a formidable hill to climb to get to the White House...
Rudy still has many nasty negatives for the media to uncover. Oh, here's one now!
Giuliani is way too close to Bush, whether the media chooses to tell you or not. Eventually, they'll have to tell, and then he'll continue to slide.
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788